Craig Kartes
In addition to the Seattle Service Award winners Felicia Wibowo and Tess Wendel, as well as Service Awards Winners for all branches announced in this blog post, the following 2024 branch awards have been presented to some of our most outstanding volunteers. Please join us in congratulating these exceptional volunteers.
Program Excellence Award
Nathan Foster
We are very pleased to present Nathan Foster, current Seattle Climbing Chair, with the Program Excellence Award for his outstanding work with the Self Rescue 1 and Self Rescue 2 climbing modules. The Program Excellence Award recognizes extraordinary contribution the Seattle branch over several years, and Nathan is more than deserving. While Nick Hunt may have developed our initial curriculum for these rescue courses, Nathan has been the driving force behind transforming them into the successful modular course it is today.
For those who don’t know, the Seattle Branch transitioned to this modular course from a larger group rescue methods class to meet the needs of a growing climbing community heading to the mountains in single rope teams. Keeping this course up to date is key for The Mountaineers climbing programs staying relevant and Nathan has played an instrumental part.
Nathan took the course in 2018, instructed in 2019 and has served as the program’s key leader for the past four years, navigating challenges like COVID along the way. He has built a strong team of leaders and instructors, streamlined recruitment, ensuring that field trip leads can step in for one another when emergencies or scheduling conflicts arise.
This course has helped shape how our other climbing courses think about "ground school" as a safe step in their learning progression. Nathan has inspired other climbing committees across the organization to utilize the Seattle Branch’s curriculum materials to adapt and update their own courses.
Nathan’s dedication to improving the student learning experience and incorporating instructor feedback has elevated this program to excellence. Here are three quotes that epitomize the feedback we continue to receive about this program:
- “Nathan, you somehow managed to show everything so clearly and concisely that it just clicked. I think it was true for all the students judging by how smoothly it went for everyone.”
- “The ratio of instructor/student pair was such that I felt my partner and I received detailed feedback on pretty much every step we went through the entire weekend. As these are safety critical skills, I really appreciated the attention to detail.”
- “Just having the large amount of times to do the associated activities was helpful. Running through the entire process each time a new step was added really ensures the first steps started to become muscle memory”
Nathan, your hard work, expertise, and dedication have strengthened the Seattle Branch and the broader climbing community. Thank you for everything you’ve done to make this program the incredible success it is today. Congratulations!
Program Innovation Award
Madeline Hwang
Up next is the Program Innovation Award, which recognizes a Mountaineer for their incredible contributions to the development, refinement, and execution of a Seattle Branch course or program. It is our privilege to recognize Madeline Hwang with the Program Innovation Award, for her contributions to the development and execution of The Mountaineers' first BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) cohort for the Basic Canyoning course in 2024.
Madeline not only recruited and trained BIPOC leaders to support this course, but she also co-led an in-person training course for all canyoning instructors and an online eLearning session. Both training formats focused on improving instruction for all students and fostering an inclusive environment for underrepresented members of the Mountaineers community.
In addition, Madeline developed a comprehensive document on inclusive language that has been so impactful it has been shared across branches, helping to inspire inclusivity org-wide.
Feedback from students in this course speaks volumes about Madeline’s success. In response to the question, “Did you feel welcomed and included by the leader and other participants?”, the overwhelmingly positive responses included:
- "In this group for people of a minority background, it’s awesome to have this space built for us"
- "Every one of the instructors who I’ve met in the past and for the first time were kind and awesome"
- "They would allow me to share any input I had without the feeling of a power dynamic that only they could teach and instruct."
Madeline, your vision, hard work, and dedication have set a new standard for inclusivity within our organization and beyond. Thank you for building an inspiring program that creates a welcoming space for all. Congratulations on this well-deserved award!
Safety in the Outdoors Award
Danielle Graham
We are very pleased to present Danielle Graham with the Safety in the Outdoors Award.
Many of you may be familiar with Danielle through her role as Safety Officer for both the Seattle and Foothills branch for the last two to three years. This is a time-intensive role, involving follow-ups on incident reports, supporting committee safety officers, and working directly with members who submit those reports. Danielle has embraced this responsibility with dedication and used her insights to identify ways The Mountaineers can create an even safer community.
Her impact can be seen in several key initiatives:
- Supporting the creation of the emotional safety working group for the Seattle branch. Danielle focused on ensuring staff and branch leadership were able to support the Board Sexual Harassment Sexual Assault Prevention committee and implement the committee’s recommendations effectively.
- Leading a Women’s Alpine Scrambling course for the Foothills Branch in 2024. Danielle spearheaded this course and worked to foster a network of women scramblers and climbers across the Foothills and Seattle branches.
- Recruiting strong leadership for the Safety committee. Danielle provided thoughtful, actionable ideas to improve how the committee collaborates internally and with the broader organization as we move into 2025.
Although this award is focused on safety, it is hard not to acknowledge Danielle’s broader significant contributions to The Mountaineers as a member of nearly 20 committees and councils. This past year, Danielle represented The Mountaineers and us all as a member of the Outdoor Alliance’s Grasstops Collective, advocating on behalf of the outdoor community.
Danielle, your commitment, leadership, and vision have made The Mountaineers a safer, stronger organization. Thank you for your extraordinary service, and I look forward to continuing to work with you on these important issues. Congratulations!
Instructor of the Year
Krishna Dase
We are proud to present Krishna Dase, KD, with the Instructor of the Year Award. This award recognizes extraordinary service as an instructor across multiple committees within the Seattle Branch. KD ticks this box in so many ways. He has been an all-star administrator, leader and instructor for our Climbing, Scrambling, Avalanche, and Snowshoeing committees. Basically, if you've taken a course about how to stay safe in snowy and glaciated terrain in the last 5 years at The Mountaineers, there is a strong likelihood you've worked with KD.
For the Winter Mountaineering and Crevasse Rescue course, KD has gone above and beyond by gathering detailed instructor feedback and organizing multiple instructor refresher and practice sessions. This ensures that all instructors feel confident teaching both new and foundational material, ultimately improving the experience for both instructors and students.
KD recognizes the importance of fostering inclusivity within our programs. He has been a champion of affinity groups. He ensured a women's affinity group and sponsored BIPOC conversations about Mountaineers courses to make our programs more inclusive and accessible to a more diverse group of people.
His contributions extend beyond the classroom. KD has created amazing online resources for students, pushed hard for an online Discord forum for community building, and drafted detailed job descriptions for different leadership levels in all the educational programs he supports.
When it comes to snowshoeing, KD’s impact is just as impressive. He has been instrumental in leading and teaching a wide range of courses, including the New Snowshoeing Trip Leader Seminar, Intermediate Snowshoeing Course, Intermediate Snowshoeing Equivalency, and the Intermediate Snowshoeing Skills Instructor Clinic. His work has been pivotal in ensuring that snowshoeing programs continue to thrive and grow while maintaining a strong emphasis on safety and skill development.
The sheer scale of KD’s contributions is awe-inspiring. Since the start of his volunteering journey in December 2017 as a Basic Snowshoe Instructor, KD’s volunteer hours exceed 4,500 hours. If you sort KD's My Activities page by Field Trips, Clinics, Seminars, and Lectures - I still had to scroll for ages on my laptop to get down to the bottom of the number of instructional sessions he has contributed to.
Here's a quote from a fellow instructor that really resonated with me about KD's contributions to making sure students succeed and instructors are valued:
“I really appreciate the course leader taking in last year Intermediate students' feedback and streamlining instruction delivery. For me, it is important to have students not overwhelm by the amount of information and give them enough space/time to practice skills we teach. That was the case with field trips I helped out with, and the students whom I worked with enjoyed having enough time to practice techniques demonstrated by field trip leaders. KD, thank you for sacrificing some of your Friday evenings to help students home in their rescue skills. I really wish my schedule was more open so that I could lend you some assistance."
KD, your hard work, vision, and commitment to students, instructors, and the broader Mountaineers community are extraordinary. Thank you for all you’ve done to inspire, educate, and lead. This award is incredibly well-deserved - congratulations!
Thank You!
A huge THANKS to our 2024 Branch Award recipients for their substantial contributions to our community. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to all of the volunteers that who support and make a meaningful difference for the Seattle Branch and the entire Mountaineers organization. Your efforts are greatly appreciated!
